New Article - Why Tanks Should Care About Diplomacy!

TheDrunkenDwarf · 02-15-2006, 07:10 PM

Why should tanks care about the diplomacy sphere in Vanguard? The Drunken Dwarf examines how diplomacy will interact with the adventuring sphere in Vanguard. Read the article HERE and let us know what you think.

Tazzrin Jaegernaut · 02-15-2006, 10:33 PM

First of all, great read TDD.

This indeed had me thinking deeply of what may come. It could be possible that Sigil will do what past MMORPG's of the past could not:

Involve all of the spheres of the game into the content.

I know that for myself, I have always been a hardcore adventurer and that even thinking of tradeskilling made me feel nauseous. Why would I do that when I could pay the other guy who loves to craft but hates adventuring make the combine?

Well, I can tell you that after hearing about some of the things you can make from crafting, I will be grinding my crafting skill when I am not adventuring. The rewards could quite simply be too great not to.

The same thing may happen to the crafter in Vanguard. Most of us can recall what was mentioned at Fanguard about rare harvested items. I believe Brad said something along the lines of, "If you decide to harvest that rare cobalt vein in the dungeon, then you better be on your toes." Well, from what we heard here it will be much harder for crafters to gain the necessary materials to keep production in line with demand. Therefore, either making very solid allies with adventurers or just leveling out the adventure sphere for themselves might turn out to be very attractive for Vanguard crafters.

Now, I am beginning to think the same about the diplomacy sphere. The rewards of doing may be just too great to pass up. Referring back to your example in the article, that quested bp could be one of the best bp's in the game for a defensive fighter. Having the necessary diplomacy skills at the time of that quest will just make the execution of that quest much easier.

Looking back at all the information that has been released about the different spheres, I can say that it sounds like Sigil is not making it absolutely necessary to grind out the different spheres. However, they are certainly making them all seem very attractive with the rewards that they could possibly yield.

BigGino · 02-16-2006, 06:48 AM

I has already planned on making my dk an armorer as wel, looks like now im gonna have to work up my diplomacy skills as well=)

Kullall · 02-16-2006, 09:43 AM

This is an excellent way to get players to use all of the content. I highly doubt I will ever venture down this path though. It's just not my thing. I like to kill things. I've never played an MMO where I really enjoyed any sort of other activity. In EQ I was almost tempted to pick up smithing and something else for some quest, but I opted against it. A few months later, a better item than I would have gotten from the quest dropped and I won it through my guild.

My decision to not craft is not soley based on a dislike of crafting or a preference to adventuring. I'd say 50% of it comes down to the fact that I don't have as much play time as others, and I really enjoy the end game experience in these games, so I focus on what usually guarantees getting me into that experience: max level and learning to play my class well. I also like to just run around the game world at times and explore, make trades, help friends, etc. There just isn't enough time in the day for me I guess. Maybe Vanguard will change my mind. I actually started raising crafting in Horizons when that game first came out, and it was ok, but I lost interest at about level 15 or so. I hope they don't force us into crafting, I have no quams with paying diplomats or crafters for help in completing a quest. I think that creates a deeper sense of community and greater player interaction.

All in all, if it ends up looking too cool to pass up, I'll probably tinker with it to decide if it's something truly new and exciting, or just the same old feeling of. "this is ok, but I could be out killing something." I think some of us are just more predisposed to more enjoy one or the other, maybe it's a right brain/left brain thing. Who knows?

BigGino · 02-16-2006, 03:27 PM

I would like to see the ocasional quest only be finishable by having all 3 of your spheres up to par. Maybee like one every 15 levels or so. Not something overpowering, but slightly more powerfull than something that a similar level adventurer or crafter could get on there own. Make it a solo only quest or have everything be no drop so you could only do it if you yourself had all three spheres leveled up.

As well as much more frequent quests where members of the three spheres can help eachother. I would love to see these become basicaly the norm as far as quests go. Bring a diplomat to get you into the dungeon and work your way down to the bottom where the crafter you brought along can harvest some special metal. Then head back to the city where the diplomat convinces someone to give the crafter a recipie using that metal. The crafter gets the recipie but it can only be made in the fires of some dungeon somewhere. The party meets back up, with the diplomat in tow just in case and fights there way down to the dungeon where the crafter makes me a sword.

Lightning · 02-16-2006, 04:03 PM

I can see me working diplomacy alongside adventuring anyway - the very idea intruiges me, and it's something to do when not hacking the heads off kobolds...

Tazzrin Jaegernaut · 02-16-2006, 04:23 PM

I can honestly say that I am sold and will be grinding out three spheres. Adventuring of course will be my main focus, but I will definately be working on crafting/ harvesting and diplomacy when my static group(s) isn't on.

ThunderAxe · 02-16-2006, 05:28 PM

Ya know...I was grinding away to level 20 in WoW when I found out I could take cooking, fishing and first aid in addition to my skinning and leatherworking...needless to say I resembled the phrase "Learn 2play N00b"...since then I have become so conditioned to the secondary and tertiary abilities, I can safely say I will be grinding out those as well. Adventuring first! kneepads for the %#^-kissing next!!

BigGino · 02-16-2006, 10:48 PM

Assuming that grinding crafting and diplomacy can be doen solo i think im gonna be doing crafting first when I can find a group. Just to have it 5 to 10 levels about adventuring so i can make some good gear that i can use. Then when my crafting is far enough ahead ill be doing dip when there are no friends around, or if im on for a shorter time than i would like.

Tazzrin Jaegernaut · 02-17-2006, 12:47 AM

We also know that the possibility of Epics might be in Vanguard. Anyone who played EQ and worked on their Epics will remember how much questing was involved. If this is indeed true, then I will bet some plat that Epic questing will involve all the spheres to at least some degree.